Last month, the Obama administration added seven new Iranian companies, because of proliferation concerns, to the ever-growing list of sanctioned Iranian entities. Yet, as important as this latest move is, one crucial category of Iranian entities is still missing from U.S. policy—companies owned or controlled by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Despite his aura as the aloof religious guide of the Islamic Republic, Khamenei belongs to a long tradition of business savvy clerics. Like many of his predecessors, he has used his position of authority for his own personal enrichment. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic, clerical foundations have developed into veritable business empires— thanks in part to political connections, but also due to a generous tax-exemption status. Many of these clerics, and other regime figures, owe their wealth to the supreme leader himself.